AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 



A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF GORDON'S HISTORY OF 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



BY 



ORIN GRANT LIBBY, Ph. D.^ 

PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. 



(From the Aiiniial Report of the American Historical Asaooiation for 1890, 
Vol. I, pages 367-388.) 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
19 00. 



FEB 3 1903 
D. of D, 



X— A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF GORDON'S HISTORY 
OF THK AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



By ORIN GRANT LIBBY, Ph. D., 
PliOFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. 



365 



A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF WILLIAM GORDON'S HISTORY OF 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



1>V()KIN (;1{.VNT LiUBV, 1*11. 1). 



I. 

The most important of the earlier histories of the American 
Revolution produced in Europe was written by William Gor- 
don, a dissenting clergyman of England/ 

He had been a pastor in Ipswich, but emigrated to America 
in 1770, settling at Kox])ur3", Massachusetts. He remained 
ill this country sixteen years, and during his residence was 
ju'tively engaged in defending the cause of the colonists. His 
thanksgiving sermon in 1774: Ijefore the Massachusetts pro- 
vincial congress at Watertown brought upon him the unspar- 
ing denunciations of the King's friends in the colony. He 
early engaged in the work of writing the history of the strug- 
gle with England, and he seems to have been favored with 
unusual opportunities for making himself acquainted with 
the course of events. Before his return to England, Harvard 
and Yale conferred upon him the degree of master of arts 
and the College of New Jersey honored him with a doctorate 
of divinit3\ 

The history was pulilished in England in 1788, and in the 
following year the American edition appeared. The English 
reviews of the work were divided as to its merits. The 
favorable critics dwelt upon the advantages of the author's 
l)eing upon the ground where material could be ()])tained 
at first hand, and dwelt particularly upon his impartiality. 
The chief attack upon him was directed against his style, 

'Gordon, The Hi.story of the Ri.se, Progress, unci Kstii>)lishiiioiit of the Iiidepeiidcnco 
of the United States of America, In A vohunes. London, 1788, N. Y., 1789; 3 vcihime.s. 

367 



368 AMEBIC AN" HISTOKICAL ASSOCIATION. 

which, indeed, not even hi^ friends attempted to defend. 
The New York newspapers, after the appearance of the 
American edition, continued for some time to publish long 
extracts from the histor3% For the Revolutionar}^ period of 
our history, since that time Gordon has held high place as an 
authorit}', of greater or less value, according to the critical 
ability of the author using him. Dr. David Ramsay, whose 
history of the Revolution appeared soon after, spoke in terms 
of high praise of the work.^ Bancroft, while criticising Gor- 
don severel}", says of him: "His work, notwithstanding all 
its faults, is invaluable."^ 

Edward Channing also pays high compliment to him: 

The most valuable history of the Revolution from a Briti.slx pen is Gor- 
don's ■vvell-knowri work. This author was assisted 1 )y Gates and Greene, so 
far as the southern campaigns were concerned. * * * Taken altogether, 
this work ranks with Ramsay as an authority of tlie very first importance.'' 

And in the latest exhaustive Avork on the literature of the 
Revolution Moses Coit Tyler says of Gordon's History: 

The ])Ook, as we have it, though written l)y a man who strove hard to 
l)e accurate, is defaced by many errors both of fact and opinion, and yet 
with all its faults of whatever kind, and even in competition with the sul)- 
sequent historical labors of more than a century, this account of the Ameri- 
can Revolution holds its ground as one of the best yet produced by any- 
one upon that vast uprising of human nature. It can hardly be possible 
for any reader of Gordon's book to resist the impression that he was an 
honest man and meant to be a truthful and a fair historian. Everywhere,' 
also, in its incidental strokes of information, in a thousand casual hints 
and glances of meaning, one perceives the immense advantage he derived 
from his intimate communication with the great civilians and soldiers 
who conducted the Revolution from its beginning to its end. It is true 
that his brief residence in the country, which he made his own with so 
much ardor, rendered it impossible for him to see the real relation of 
some events, to understand the true character of some persons; but even 
that disadvantage had its compensation in his freedom from local and 
hereditary bias, in the unhackneyed freshness of his judgment, in a sort 
of aloofness of vision which gave something of the just perspective and the 
impartiality that are conferred by actual distance in space or in time.^ 

In 1758 Robert Dodsley founded that well-known English 
publication, the Annual Register. Edmund Burke was 
engaged, at the salary of =£100 a 3^ear, as editor, and this 

1 Belknap Papers, Pt. II., 162. 

- Bancroft, History of America, IX., 123. Kote. 

3 Winsor's Narrative and Critical History, VI, .518. 

•* Tyler, Literary History of the American Revolution, II, 427—128. 



Gordon's history ok American rkvolution. 3()9 

po.sitioii lie held for iieurly tliirly years. In this })iil)liciiti()n 
there, a|)peured from year to year a series of articles under 
the title of History of Europe, deserihinj^ the leadino* events 
in Eni^land and America connected with the breach between 
the mother country and her colonies. The chief part in the 
production of these articles is ascribed to Burke, though he 
never acknowledged his share in them. 

In the preface to Gordon's History we tind the following: 

The Americans remarked that Duilsley's Aimual Register contained the 
l)est foreign i)rinted suniniaryai'coixnt of their affairs. * * * That Reg- 
ister and other publications have been of service to the compiler of the 
present work, who has frecjuently cpioted from them, without varying the 
language exeept fur method and conciseness. 

This apparently innocent statement conceals one of the most 
compli;te plagiarisms on record. Instead of quoting from the 
Annual Register, Gordon copies it wholesale, varying the 
language so little that it can hardly 1)0 said it was done for 
conciseness. The proof of these charges is easy and conclu- 
sive. One needs but to sit down with the Annual Register in 
one hand and Gordon's History in the other to find parallel 
readings e^'er^'where, from the beginning to the close of the 
war. 

For some reason, known only to the author or his publishers, 
Gordon's History is written in the form of letters instead of 
chapters. The events in America are set forth in thirty-two 
letters. dated froniRoxbury, Massachusetts; while the foreign 
events appear in letters from London, Rotterdam, and Paris, 
six, ten, and two letters, respectively. 

A])Out two-thirds of the material in these foreign letters is 
copied directly from the Annual Register without su))stantial 
change. Barely one-tenth of it can be called original in any 
sense as intelligent comment on European conditions. The 
longest single piece of this kind is the description of the naval 
exploits of Paul Jones, four pages in length. The remainder 
of the material, while taken from the Register, is changed 
sufficiently to conceal its origin, though the style is such that 
it could ne\'er have been composed by the reputed author of 
the histoi'v we are (wamining. The following examples of 
how Gordon plagiarized his finest passages will serve to bring 
out more clearly what is meant. All of the material here 
HIST 99, VOL I 24 



370 



AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 



su))joined is incorporated in the liod}' of the text without the 
slightest hint of its real source: 



Annual Register, 1775, p. 105, c. 2. 

We should deem it inexcusable to (luit 
this part of the subject without laying bc- 
fare our readers the astonishing growth of 
the colonies within a little more than half 
a century and the prodigious share they 
contributed to our greatness — a matter of 
the first importance to ourselves — which 
perhaps can not in any degree be paral- 
leled in the history of mankind and which 
will equally excite the admiration and ex- 
ercise the scepticism of future ages. 

Annual Register, 1777, p. SU, c. t. 

For when, at length, the American cruis- 
ers not only scoured the Atlantic Ocean, 
but spreading their depredations through 
the European seas, brought alarm and hos- 
tility home to our doors; when the destruc- 
tion which befell the homeward-bound 
richly laden West India fleets poured equal 
ruin upon the planters in the islands and 
the merchants at home; when an account 
of the failure of some capital house in the 
city was almost the news of every morning; 
even in that state of public loss and private . 
distress, an unusual phlegm prevailed, and 
the same tranquil countenance and care- 
less unconcern was preserved by those who 
had not yet partaken of the calamity. 

Annual Register, 1780, p. 172, e. 1-2. 

Such was the complete and decisive vic- 
tory gained in behalf of the petitions by 
the opposition on that extraordinary and 
memorable day. * * * Without doors, 
the joy and triumph in most parts of Eng- 
land, as well in most of the counties that 
did not petition as in those that did, was 
great and general, and though not dis- 
played in the same manner, would not, 
perhaps, have been exceeded on occasion 
of the most decisive victory over a foreign 
enemy. 



Gordon's Aineriraii. Revolution, I, 1,95. 

This astonishing growth of the colonies 
within little more than half a century and 
the prodigious share they contribute to our 
greatness makes them a matter of the fir.vt 
importance to ourselves and must excite 
the admiration of future ages. 



Gordon, II, 1,36. 

When at length the American cruisers 
not only scoured the Atlantic, but spread- 
ing over the European seas, brought alarm 
and ho.stility to our doors; when the de- 
struction which befell the homeward- 
bound richly laden West India fleetsi)Ourcd 
equal ruin upon the planters in the islands 
and the merchants at home; even in that 
state of public loss and private distress an 
unusual phlegm prevailed, and the same 
tranquil countenance was preserved by 
tho.se who had not partaken of the calamity. 



Gordon, III, 1,16. 

Such was the complete and decisive vic- 
tory gained by the oppo-sition in behalf of 
the i>etitions on that extraordinary and 
memorable day. Without doors, the joy 
and triumph in most parts of England was 
great and general, and perhaps would 
scarcely have been exceeded on occasion 
of the greatest victory over a foreign 
enemv. 



Account of the Gordon Riots in London. 



Annual Register, 1780, p. 195, c. 1-2. 

Nothing could be more dismal than that 
night. Those who were on the spot or in 
the vicinity say that the present darkness, 
the gleam of the distant fires, the dreadful 
.shouts in different quarters of the rioters, 
the groans of the dying, and the heavy, 
regular platoon firing of the soldiers formed 
altogether a scene «o terrific and tremen- 



Gordon, III, iHS. 

The natural darkness of the night, the 
gleam of the distant fires, the dreadful 
shouts of the rioters in different quarters, 
the frequent firings of the soldiers, and the 
groans of the dying formed altogether a 
scene so dreadful that no description can 
easily reach. 

London the next day i)resented in many 



GORDON S HISTORY OK AMKRK^AN RKVOHTTION. 



H71 



dulls lis no (Icscriplioii m- even iiuaKiiiudnii 
(^ould |i()ssil)ly rracli. 

Tliu niotropolis invsi'iitrd on the I'cillow- 
in{< day in many places tlio inniKe "f a city 
recently stormed and sacked; all bnsiness 
at an end, houses and shops shnt np, the 
Royal Exchanf;;e, public biiildhigs, and 
streets ]iossessed iin<l occupied by the troops; 
sniokiiiKiiiid l)iirninK ruins, with a dreadful 
v<ii<l and silence in scenes of the greatest 
hurrv, noise, and business. 



places tlie iiiiaKc of a city recently stornied 
and sacked; all business was at an end, 
houses and shops were .shut up, the; Royal 
Exchanse, other piiblii' buildinK» possessed 
and occupied by the troops; ruins werestill 
burning and smoking, and a dreadful void 
and silence reigned where scenes of the 
greatest hurry and noise were habitual. 



Annual Uci/islri; 17SI, p. l.i'j, c. 1. 

Thus, after the strougi'st appearances on 
every side of an api)roacliing and heavy 
tempest, the sky was suddenly cleared, and 
everything went smoothly and jirosperous- 
ly with administration. 

I'age 111, c. '2. 

The i)roclamation for dissolving the I'ar- 
liamcnt operated like ii thunderclap with 
respect to suddennes.s and surprise on those 
not in the sei;ret. 



Odi-flon IV, I,. 

The strong appearances of an ai)proach- 
iiig storm with which a<lniinistratioii was 
threatened having .subsided, and every- 
thing going on smoothly and in-osperously. 
* * * • 

When the proclamation for the dis.solv- 
ing of it appeared, it wrought like a thun- 
derclap with respect to suddenness and 
surprise on those who were unacquainted 
with the design. 



AnWCK ON (TlBIiALTAK. 



Annual R('(/inlir, li'SJ, p. In/,, 



l-'J. (ionhni, IV, 7S. 

One liundred and .seventy i)ieces of caii- 
nou (if the heaviest metal and eighty mor- 
tars disgorged their trem«iidous torrents of 
fire all at once upon that narrow spot. 
This dreadful cannonade and bombard- 
ment was continued night and day for a 
considerable time without intermission. 
Nothing could be more splendidly magnifi- 
cent or dreadfully sublime than the view 
and report of this tremendous scene to tho.se 
who observed them from tht' neighboring 
hills of Barbary and Spain during the night, 
especially in the beginning, when, the can- 
nonade of the enemy being returned by 
General Elliot with still superior power and 
greater fierceness, the whole rock seemed 
to vomit out fire, and all distinction of 
[larts was lost in flame and smoke. 



One luimlred and seventy jiieces of can- 
non of the heaviest metal and fourscore 
mortars disgorged their tremendous tor- 
rents of fire all at once upon that narrow 
spot. It seemed as if not only the works, 
but the rock itself, must have been over- 
whelmed. This dreadful cannonade and 
bombardment was continued night and 
day for a considerable time without inter- 
mission. It is said, and may well be sup- 
posed, that nothing could be more sijlen- 
didly magnificent or dreadfully suljlime 
than the view and the report of this tre- 
mendous scene to those who ob.served 
them from the neighboring hillsof Barbary 
and Spain during the night, especially in 
the beginning, when, the cannonade of the 
enemy being returned with still superior 
power and greater fierceness by General 
Elliot, ^the whole rock secmeil to vomit 
out fire, and all distinction of [i.irts was 
lost in flame and smoke. 



It is very evident from these examples that Gordon copied 
with care and impartiality wherever opportunity offered. 
The selections given cover the entire range of foreign topics 
even remotely connected with the American Revolution. It 
will be observed also that each of the four volumes is repre- 
sented in the.se parallel ({notations. 



372 



AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 



When we come to the material in the Roxbury letters there 
is necessarily less taken from the Register, though even here 
there is evident an astonishing lack of original sources. If 
anywhere in Gordon's work we should look for original 
material it is in that part dealing with his adopted State. He 
was an active participant in the stirring events of the early 
war, and in more than one instance is known to have person- 
ally collected material for his future history. Yet strangely 
enough some of the most aggravated cases of plagiarism are 
to be found in these very pages. In the letter dated Septem- 
ber 28, 1774, is found an eloquent and remarkably clear state- 
ment of the conditions existing in America. 



Annual licr/lstcr, 1775, p. 10, c. 1-2. 

The people of America at this time, with 
respect to political opinions, might, in gen- 
eral, be divided into two great classes. Of 
these one was for rushing headlong into the 
greatest extremities; they would put an im- 
mediate stop to trade without waiting till 
other measures were tried or receiving the 
general sense of the colonies upon a subject 
of such alarming importance, and, though 
they were eager for the holding of a con- 
gress, they would leave it nothing to do 
but to prosecute the violences which they 
had begun. The other, if less numerous, 
was not less respectable, and though more 
moderate were perhaps equally firm. These 
were averse to any violent measures being 
adopted until all other means were inelTec- 
tnally tried; they wished further applica- 
tions to be made to Great Britain and the 
grievances they complained of, with the 
rights ^ hich they claimed, to be clearly 
stated and properly presented. This they 
said could only be done effectually by a 
general congress, as in any other manner it 
might be liable to the objection of being 
only the act of a few men or of a particu- 
lar colony. We, however, acknowledge a 
third party which ^vere the friends to the 
administration in England, or, more prop- 
erly those who did not totally disapprove of 
its measures; but their still, small voice was 
so low that except in a very few particular 
places it could scarcely be distinguished. 

We may, by this time, l)egin to understand where Gordon 
acquired his ''aloofness of vision" with which he is credited. 



Oordoii, I, 37S-.17H. 

Tlie people may be divided iiiti) twogreat 
classes. One is for rushing headlong into the 
greatest extremities without waiting till 
other mea.sures are tried or receiving the 
general sen.se of the colonies; and, though 
eager for holding a congress, would leave it 
nothing to do but to prosecute the violences 
which they have began. The other is 
averse to violent measures till all other 
means are ineffectually tried. They wish 
further applications to be made to Britain 
and the grievances they complain of, with 
the rights which they claim, to be clearly 
stated and properly presented. This, they 
say, can be effectually done only by a gen- 
eral congress. There is a third party, who 
are friends to the British administration, 
or, rather, who do not totally disapprove of 
its measures; but their' voice is so low t^iat 
except in a few particular places it can 
scarcely be distinguished. 



Gordon's history ok amkrioan UEVonrTioN. J^78 

It is pcrhiips th<» iic^xt Ix'st thinn', when an aiitlioi' (l()(\s not 
possess this inv:iliial)l(' (luality, foi' liini lo know iiow to ac- 
(juiro a r(>putation for liavino- it. 

In his use of docunuMitarv niatci'ial foi' (his ])art of iiis 
work, our autiior depends (ptite often upon the sunnuaries 
found in the Annual K(\oister, and these lie uses so carelessly 
as to fall into several capital (M'rors. 

1. Boston town nieetino-s of May 18 and l.S, 1774. 

Here (xordoii seems to have had the original documents, 
l)ut follows the Register's mistake in mentioning on(> meeting 
only and iti compressing the two sets of resolutions into one. 
This leads him into the further error of giving the wrong 
date for (rage's landing at Boston.' 

2. Salem resolution of June is, 177-1, on the Boston port 
bill, presented to General Gage. 

In this case the summary in tlu> Annual Register is used to 
the almost entire exclusion of the original, but a single phrase 
being used that shows knowledge of its exMstence.^ 

3. Proceedings of the Massachusetts provincial congress, 
October 11, 1774. 

Their petition to General Gage and his answer are given 
from the Annual Register, and a comparison with the original 
shows certain slight ])ut decisive variations.^ 

4. Action of Suffolk county convention on Gage's fortifi- 
cation of Boston Neck, Septend)er 1(>, 1774. 

The resolutions are given in (ioi'don from theoriofinal doc- 
uments,* but in Gage's reply he follows the Annual Register 
into the serious error of confusing Gage's answer to the 
Boston Selectmen, September U, and his later reply to the 
Suffolk County convention. This is an error which might 
easily occur in the preparation of the English pul)lication, 
but our author should have been better informed. As this 



1 Gordon, I, 3G0. Annual Registi-r, 177r>, ].. 1. c. J. Boston Evoniii^,' I'ost, May IG, 1"4, 
1>. 2, c% 2 ; May 23, 1774, p. 2, c. 3. 

2(;ordon, I, 374. Annual HcsistLT, 1775, ]i\>. s-'.l. Hoslon ICvenim,-- I'ost, .Inno -M, 1774, 
1>. 2, c. 3. 

■''Gordon, I, 411-112. Annual Register, 177.'), ]>)>. Jl-i'l. Ksscx <;a7.i'tti,()cl<il)cr U-ls. 1774, 
Vol. VII, 325; Oct. 18-25, 1774, Vol. VII, 32ti. 

* 1,389-391. Annual Register, 1775. }>\<. is-iy. 



374 



AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, 



case illustrates several interestfng features of Gordon's 
methods, the material is subjoined for comparison: 



C4AGE's answer to the ADDKESS of the SUFFOLK 
COUNTY CONVENTION OF SEPTEMBER 10, 1774. 



jiiiviiiil TiCf/iiitcr, 177 r>, p. 20, 
0. 1. 

To this !u:ldri,'L-s General 
Gage answered that he had 
no intention to prevent the 
free egress and regress of any 
person to and from the town 
of Boston; that he would 
suffer none under his com- 
mand to injure the person 
or property of any of His 
Majesty s subjects; but that 
it was his duty to preserve 
the peace and to y)revent 
surprise, and that no use 
would be made of tlie can- 
non inilcss their hostile pro- 
ceedings should render it 
necessary. 



Gordon, I, S92. 

I have no intention to pre- 
vent tlie free egress and re- 
gress of any person to and 
from the town of Boston. I 
.shall .suffer none under my 
command to injure the per- 
son or property of any of His 
Majesty's .subjects; but it is 
my duty to preserve the 
peace and to prevent sur- 
pri.se; and no use will be 
made of the cannon unless 
the hostile proceedings of the 
jieople shall render it necea- 
■sarv. 



GAGE'S REPLY TO THE 
BOSTON SELECTMEN, 
SEPTEMBER 9. 

BoMon Eveniny PoM, Srptnn- 
hrr IZ, 1771,, p. S, r. 1. 

When you lately applied 
to me respecting my order- 
ing somecannon to be placed 
at the entrance of the town 

* * * I thought you was 
satisfied the people had 
nothing to fear from that 
measure, as no use should be 
made thereof unless their 
hostile proceedings should 
make it necessary. * * * 
I have thought proper to .as- 
sure you that I have no 
intention to prevent tlie 
egress and regress of any 
person to and from the town, 

* * * neither shall I suf- 
fer any under my command 
to injiire the person or 
property of any of His 
Majesty's subjects. But as 
it is my duty, so it shall be 
my endeavor, to preserve the 
peace and ])rornotc the hap- 
piness of every in(liviil\iiil. 

Gage's real addres.s to the Suffolk Count}^ convention, "which 
Gordon must have read at the time, as everybody did, differs 
from his earlier one in so many points that it could not pos- 
sil)ly be mistaken for it. A few words quoted, from it will 
illustrate the difference. It booius: 

I hoped the assurance I gave the selectmen of Boston on the subject yon 
now address me had l)i'en satisfactory to everybody. I can not possibly 
intercept the intercourse Ijetween the town and the country. * * •* i 
would ask what occasion there is for such numbers going armed in and out 
of the town, and through the country in an hostile manner; or why were 
the guns removed privately in the night from the battery at Charlestown? ' 

In April 2(5, 1775, the Massachusetts provincial congress 
issued an address to the inhabitants of Great Britain. Gor- 
don had l)een chaplain of thi.s l)ody in 177-1: and was, of course, 
thoroughly familiar with its proceedings, especially at this 
exciting period in its histor3'. Yet it is sufficient comment 



1 Boston Evening Post, September 19, 1774, p. 2, c. 1-2. 



GORDON S HISTORY OF AMKUIOAN REVOLUTION. 



375 



on his carefulness as a historian that, in referring to this 
important address, he copies a summary of it verbatim fi'om 
the Animal lieo-ister. Tht^ original document is oiven below 
with its variations: 



Aiir Knr/luixl Clinmiclc or 
Ki,fcx GaseiU', May 78-2.5, 
1775, Vol. VII r, 356, p. 2. 
We profess to be liis loyal 
and dutiful sutijeels. * * * 
Nevertheless, to tlie persecu- 
tion and tyranny of his cruel 
ministry we will not tamely 
submit — appealinjc to heav- 
en for the jiistice of our 
cause, we determine to die 
or be free. 

We can not think that the 
honor, wisdom, and valor of 
Britons will suffer them to 
be longer inactive speeta- 
t(trs. ^ ^ ■^ 



AiiiiiKil Urnixtrr. 1775 
c. 1. 



p. 129, 



In the meantime tlic pro 
vineial congress drew up an 
address. * * * They * * * 
place much dependence on 
the honor, wisdom, and val- 
or of Britons, from which 
they hope tlieir interference 
in preventing the prosecu- 
tion of measures which they 
represent a.s equally ruinous 
to the mother country and 
the colonies; they make 
great professions of loyalty; 
but declare that they will 
not tamely submit to the per- 
secution and tyranny of a 
cruel ministry, and (appeal- 
ing to heaven for the ju.stice 
of their cause) that they are 
determined to die or be free. 



(Ion 1 1,11, I, l,'.n-'Z. 

In t lie address tile congress 
proft'ss to place nnicli de- 
pendence on the honor, wis- 
dom, and valor of Britons, 
from which they hoi>e for 
their interference in i)re- 
venting the prosecution of 
present measures. T h e y 
make great professions of 
loyalty, but declare that 
they will not tamely submit 
to the persecutions and tyr- 
anny of a cruel ministry; 
and that they are determined 
to die or be free. They ap- 
peal to heaven forthe justice 
of their cause. 



Such examples might be multiplied for the historv of Mas- 
sachusetts in the years 1774 and 1775. The Annual Register 
is depended upon to supply dates, documents, and summaries 
of conditions in the colony with complete disregard for 
historical accuracy. 

In a somewhat similar fashion are the proct^edings of other 
provincial congresses treated. And even the Contiiu'utal 
Congress does not wholly escape, though the paucity of 
material of this kind in the Annual Register compelled our 
author to have recourse to the originals. Occasionally, how- 
ever, he was able to appropriate a passage like tlu^ following 
in resfard to the Continental Conofress: 



All II nil/ Riiiisfrr, 1775, p. .W, r. ;?. 

* * * it must be acknowledged that the 
petition and siddresses from the Congress 
have been executed with uncommon en- 
ergy, address, and ability; and that con- 
sidered abstractedly, with respect to vigor 
of mind, strength of sentiment, and the lan- 
guage, at least of patriotism, they would 
not have disgraced any as.sembly that ever 
existed. 



Onrclnn. T, MO. 

The impartial world will go near to 
acknowledge that the petitions and ad- 
dresses from the Congress have been exe- 
cuted with uncommon energy, skill, and 
ability; and tliat abstractedly con.sidered, 
in respect to vigor of mind, strength of senti- 
ment, and [>atriotic language, they would 
not di.sgrace any assembly whatsoever. 



376 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 

In 1780, when Congress was urging" the States to make up 
their respective quotas in order to be ready for an}^ decisive 
move that might be concerted with the French fleet, letters 
were sent out by a committee of Congress in support of the 
measure. The efi'ort put forth at this time is thus described: 

Annual Register, 17S1, p. 19, c. -2. Gordon, III, 375. 

The disgrace of appearing contemptible The disgrace of appearing contemptible 
in the eyes of their great ally and the mis- in the eyes of their great ally and the mis- 
chief and ruin which must be the conse- chief which must be the consequence Were 
quence of their being incapable to benefit strongly urged. The people were passion- 
of his intentions in their favor were strongly ately called upon not to suffer the curse of 
urged. And the people were passionately another campaign to rest upon America, 
called upon not to suffer the curse of an- They were told that the eyes of all Europe 
other campaign to rest upon America. The were upon them, ajid thjt their future inde- 
eyes of all Europe were upon them, and pendence, fortune, and happiness depended 
their future independence, fortune, and up(m their present exertion, 
happiness, as they said, depended upon 
their present exertion. 

Turning now to the military operations of the war, we find 
the same use of borrowed material varying in amount accord- 
ing- to the distance from Boston. The l)attle of Bunker Hill 
is quite free from it; the operations about New York City, 
Long Island, and through New Jersey show considerable evi- 
dence of copying. The campaign in Canada and Burgoyne's 
expedition arc full of ])orrowed phrases, sentences, and even 
whole paragraphs. And when we reach the operations on the 
frontier, as in the Wyoming massacre and Clark's expedi- 
tion, the entire account is taken almost verbatim. The method 
is quite simple and invariable, since it was the business of our 
historian to produce as complete a compilation as possible, 
absence of material must be compensated for by the appro- 
priation of the work of someone better informed, and in this 
case the greater the deficiency the more complete the theft. 
Clark's expedition is thus described: 

Annual h'lyistrr, 1779. p. 16, r. 1. Gordon, III, 193. 

The situation of this small party in the * * * w^q dangerous situation of this 

heart of the Indian country, at the back of small corps in the inner part of the Indian 

some of their most cruel and hostile tribes, territory, at the back of .some of the most 

in the track of many others, and more or cruel and hostile tribes, in the track of 

less in the way of all, was converted to pe- many others, and more or less in the way of 

culiar advantage by the extraordinary ac- all, was converted to peculiar advantage by 

tivity and unwearied .spirit of their com- the extraordinary activity and unwearied 

mander. He directed and timed his attacks spirit of the commander. He directed and 

with such judgment and executed them timed his attacks with such judgment and 

with .such silence and dispatch that the executed them with such silence and dis- 

savages at length found their own mode patch that the Indians found their own 



GORDON S HISTORY OF AMERICAN" UEVOHTTION. 



877 



of war olToctiinlly turned upon them. Sur- 
prised in tlieir inmost retreats and most 
se(iuestered reeesses, at those times and 
seasons wlieii tlu'v were scarcely less in- 
disposed for action than unprepared for 
defense. * * * , 



mode of war elTectually turned ui)on tliem. 
Surprised in their inmost retreats and most 
sequestered reeesses, at those times and 
seasons when tlicy were si'urcely less 
disposed for action than unpre|)arcd for 
defen.se. * * * 



Hut while (iroixU)!! had the o-ood taste to prefer the hicid 
statements and l)eautit'ully rounded phrases of the Annual 
Register to his own awkward and limping' sentences, yet he 
does not seem to have Ween appreciative of tigui'es of speech. 
The following account of conditions in tlie Wyoming Valley 
just })receding the massacre well illustrates this: 

All II Hill Uiiii.'iler, 1779, p. U. 

* * * they hail no inconsiderable mix- 
ture of loyalists among themselves, and the 
two parties were actuated by sentiments of 
the most violent animo.sity. Nor were 
these animosities confined to i)articular 
families or places, or marked by any line 
of distinction, but creeping within the 
roofs and to the hearths and boards where 
they were least expected, served, as it after- 
wards fatally appeared, equally to poison 
the sources of domestic security and happi- 
ness and to cancel the laws of nature and 
humanity. 

Our author betrays his ohtuseness by sul)stituting the woi'd 
** floors''' for the original '" boards '' in Burke's account, thus 
spoiling the figure and marring the finish of the period. 

In his account of Arnold's treason and Andre's death the 
Annual Register is his source throughout. This ought to l)e 
a fair test of an American historian's accuracy — his treatment 
of a sul)ject so wddely discussed in this country and involving 
so many men of rank on both sides of the contest. A quota- 
tion will show the real authorship of Gordon's version of the 
afiair : 



Onrihm, in, isr,. 

But it was their uuliai)piness to have a 
considerable mixture of royalists among 
them, and the two parties were actuated hy 
sentiments of the most violent animosit , 
which was not confined to particular fami- 
lies or places, but creeping within the roofs 
and to the hearths and floors where it was 
least expected, served equally to poison the 
sources of domestic security and happine.'-s 
and to cancel the laws f)f nature and 
humanitv. 



Aiiiiuiil RiijUliT, 17S1, p. Ut, C.2. 

This excellent young man, disdaining all 
subterfuge and evasion, and only study- 
ing, by the magnanimity which he should 
now display, and the intrepidity with 
which he would encounter the expected 
sentence, to throw such a luster over his 
character as might prevent the smallest 
shade of that imputation which he so much 
dreaded, voluntarily confes.sed more than 
he was asked, and sought not to palliate 
anything that related to himself, wliilst lu' 
concealed with the most guarded and 
scrupulous nicely \\ halever niiKliI involve 
others, p. 4.'), c. 'J. 



Gordon. Ill, /,sr,, /,S7. 

Andre, di.sdaining all subterfuge and 
evasion, and studying oidy to place his 
character in so fair a light as miglit prevent 
its being shaded by jjresent circumstiinces, 
voluntarily confes.sed more than he was 
asked and sought not to [lalliate anything 
relating to nimsclf. while he concealed 
with the most guarded and scrupulous 
nieit y whatever might involve others. 



Page 4SS: 



378 



AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 



Andre was superior to the terrors of 
death, but that disgraceful mode of dying 
which the usage of war had annexed to 
his unhappy situation was to him infinitely 
dreadful. 

He encountered his fate with a compo- 
sure, dignity, and fortitude which equally 
excited the admiration and melted tlie 
hearts of all the spectiitors. 

The sympathy which Andre excited in 
the American army is perhaps unexampled 
under anv similar circumstances. 



The major was superior to the torror.s of 
death, but the disgraceful mode of dying 
which the usage of war had annexed to 
his unhap7)y situation was infinitely dread- 
ful to him. 

Page 489: 

(He) performed the last offices to him- 
self with a composure that excited the 
admiration and melted the hearts of all 
the spectators. 

Page 490: 

The sympathy he had excited in the 
American army was perhaps unexampled 
under any similar circumstances. 



It is of interest to note in this connection that this descrip- 
tion of the Andre aifair was quoted in one of the London 
magazines in 1789, as illustrative of Gordon's stAde/ 

It may not be surpri-sing after what has been related of the 
uu^thods of our historian that his only apparent source for 
the naval operations this side of the Athintic is the Annual 
Register. This is more marked for those of the West Indies, 
and the niatei'ial is sometimes adapted and al>ridged, more 
frequently copied entire without change or acknowledgment. 
But it does c^reate surprise to find the closing campaign of 
the war and th(^ surrender at Yorktown described with such 
evident reference to his English source. He has here, how- 
ever, one advantage; two authorities had covered the ground 
already and it was easier to appropriate without detection in 
this case than in most others. How intricately he wove his 
narative from material obtained from the two sources may be 
seen from the following parallel quotations describing the 
closing scene at Yorktown: 



Annual Register, 17SI, pp. 
133-UV,. 

But things were now draw- 
ing to that crisis which 
could no longer be averted. 
The works were every- 
where sinking under the 
weight of the enemy's artil- 
lery and Lord Cornwallis 
himself could not but concur 
in opinion * * * that a 
continuance of the same fire 
only for a few hours longer 
would reduce them to such 
a condition tliat it would 



Ramscjj, II, f>'2f'>. 

By this time the works of 
the beseiged were so broken 
that they were assailable in 
many places, and the troops 
were exhausted by constsint 
watching and unceasing fa- 
tigue. The time in which 
relief from New York was 
promised had elapsed. 
Longer resistance could an- 
swer no purpose, and might 
occasion the loss of many 
valuable lives. Lord Corn- 



Gimloii, IV. li)!,-196. 

Matters were now hasten- 
ing to a crisis, which could 
not be longer averted. The 
British works were sinking 
under the weight of the 
American and French artil- 
lery. The continuance of 
the allied fire, only for a few 
more hours, would reduce 
them to such a condition that 
it would be rashness to at- 
tempt their defence. The 
time for expecting relief 



1 Literary Magazine, London, 17S9, II, :38l-:iS3. 



GORDON S HISTORY OF AMEKICAlsr REVOLUTION. 



370 



then become desperate to at- 
tempt their defence. * * * 
The troops were not only <li- 
niinished hy loss and by 
sickness, but the strength 
uikI spirits of those in the 
works wore exhansted and 



wallis, therefore, on the 17th, 
wrote a letter to general 
Washington, reqnesting a 
cessation of arms for twenty- 
four hours, and that com- 
missioners might be appoint- 
ed for digesting terms of 



worn down by constant capitulation. It is remark- 
watching and unremitting able, while lieuteiiant-col- 
fatigne. * * * Lord Corn- onel Laurens, the ofliccr 
wallis accordingly wrote a employed by general Wash- 
letter to General Washington ington on this occasion, was 
on the same day, the 17th, drawingiiparticlesby which 
proposing a cessation of a numerous British army be- 
arms for twenty-four hours, came prisoners, that his 
and that commissioners father was closely confined 
might be ai)pointed on both in the Tower of London, 
sides for settling the terms • 
of capitulation. * * * 

Page ISrr 

It was remarkable that the 
commissioner ai>pointcd by 
the Americans to settle the 
terms, and who himself drew 
up the articles of a capitula- 
tion by which a British army 
became prisoners to hi.s 
country, was Colonel Lau- 
rons,son of that Mr. Laurens, 
late president of the Con- 
gress, who was then, and 
had been for a con.siderable 
time, a close prisoner in the 
Tower of London. 

Note.— This quotation raises a question regarding the 
material. But no one who has read Ram.sey would charge 
of which Gordon is continually guilty. 



from New York was elapsed. 
The strength and spirits of 
the royal troops were worn 
down by constant watching 
and unremitting fatigue. 
Lord Corn wallis, therefore, 
sent out a flag at 10 o'clock 
in the morning of the 17tli, 
with a letter to general 
Washington, requesting a 
ces.sation of arms for twenty- 
four hours, and that con - 
missioners niightbeappoin:- 
ed for digesting the terms 
of capitulation. * * * 
Commissioners were appoin 1- 
ed— the side of the allies, 
viscount de Noaille, and 
lieutenant-Colonel Laurens, 
whose father was in close 
confinement at the Tower, 
while the son was drawing 
np articles by which an 
English nobleman and a 
British army became jiris- 
oners. 



source of some of Ramsey's 
him with the gross plagiarism 



Nothing })etter reveals Gordon'.s value us uii historian tliiui 
his account of the negotiations of the Howes with Washino-- 
ton. The affair was known very widely through the news- 
papers and Congress passed resolutions respecting it. In 
Gordon, however, in spite of his boasted access to Washing- 
ton's correspondence, we are treated merely witli the account 
at second hand. 



Sjiaik-K' Li/r (111(1 W'ritiiKjK af 

WdshiiKjii,,!. IV, (ipp. r,()'.i- 
r>n. X((. I, jj. //,. 

The (iencral declined the 
letter and said that it was 
true the Ac. Ac. &v. implied 
everything, and they also 
implied anything. 

Gen. Washington replied 
that * * * from what had 
appeared or transpired on 
this head Lord Ilowe and 



Aiiiiiinl liCt/islcr, 1770, p. ](!S, 
C. -2. 



The General replied * * * 
that it was true et ceteras 
implied everything, but they 
also implied anything." 

Page 1G9, c. 1: 
* * * "he received for 
answer, among other things, 
that, by what liad appeared, 
their powers were only to 



(iin-doii, IT, :mi-SOi. 



^^'ash ington .says: * * * 
it is true the et ceteras im- 
jily everything, but it is no 
less true that they imply 
anything. 

Theii jiowers are only to 
grant i)ardons. They who 
have committed no fault 
want no pardons. The 



380 



AMERICAK HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 



Krant pardons; that those 
who had committed no fault 
wanted no pardon, and that 
they themselves were only 
defending what they deemed 
their indisputable right. 



Americans are only defend- 
ing what they think their 
indispvitable rights. 



General Howe were only to 
grant pardons; that those 
who had committed no fault 
wanted no pardon; that we 
were only defending what 
we deemed our indisputable 
rights. 

It may now be clear why the larger part of Gordon's four 
volume.s so conspicuously lacks bibliography. The first vol- 
ume is an exception, as it contains in the first letter footnotes 
giving numerous authorities consulted. In the next two let- 
ters, however, the number is much less, and from letter IV 
to the end of the volume but twelve references occur in 300 
pages. The remainder of the work is even less well supplied 
than this. This paucity of references marks the appearance 
of the material from the Annual Register, which, of course, 
could not safel}' be acknowledged. Letter III is in no small 
part a copy in ideas, arrangement, and phrasing of the Regis- 
ter. This material increases till it swallows up every other, 
the only exception, of course, being those parts taken from 
Ramsay. 

It was obviously unsafe to ])e too precise in stating his 
authority, since it is no eas}' task to conduct a theft on so 
large a scale without betraying it to the reader. The single 
instance in which he refers to the Annual Register is in con 
nection with the fieet of Rochambeau, when he takes pains in 
a footnote to point out that the list in the "English publica- 
tions" is in error. ^ A Providence paper is here mentioned as 
his authority, but he follows it only partiallv, since material 
from the Annual Register appears side by side with that from 
the local newspaper. Apropos of the arrival of the French 
fleet Gordon mentions an order to the arni}^ officers issued b}^ 
Washington with reference to the wearing black and white 
cockades. And though this order was published in this local 
newspaper alread}^ referred to, he copies his statement of it 
from the usual source. 



Gordon, III., aso. 



MassacJmsctts Spy, Aiigiid 10, 

ITSO, No. m, p. 3, e. 2. Avimal Jiegister, 17 SI, pp. 

[Extrac-t from General oi_9^-> 
Orders.] 

It is recommended to the In the meantime Washing- The American command- 
officers of the American ton issued a requisition in er in chief recommended 
army to have black and public orders to the Ameri- the officers of the Continon- 
white cockades, a black can officers, soliciting and tal Army, in general orders, 



1 Gordon, III, ;^>T'J. Note. 



Gordon's history ok American KKV(>LirTi<>N. 881 

ground Willi a white ri'licf, sln)n,i,'ly rccomiiK'ndiiig lo the wciiriiig of bliick uiii] 

(.'lubk'iniUic of the expected tliem the wearing of black vviiite cockades (the ground 

union of the two armies. and white cockades (the being of tlic first color and 

ground being of the first the relief of tlio second) as 

color and the relief of the a compliment to and a syiu- 

second) as a compliment to Ix)! of Tricndsbip and alTce- 

and a symbol < f friendship linn for their allies. 
and afTection for their allies. 

Notliiiii;' has Ihhmi said so far rospectinj^ the part taken l)y 
the Southern States in tht», war. Before the breaking out of 
hostilities, and in the lirst 3'(^ai's of the strugo-l(>, Gordon's 
souree was (juite hirgcly the Aiuuial Register, especially for 
Virginia and North Carolina. In his preface he mentions the 
fact that Dr. Ramsay's history of the war in South Carolina 
was sent him in maiuiscript, with full lilxu-ty to use it as he 
saw tit. It is so used by him, sometimes as an acknowledged 
source, more often as a partial one, and a still greater number 
of times with no acknowledgment whatever. Ver}^ little of 
value indeed does Gordon add to the history of the Southern 
war. And his manifest unfairness in his use of Ramsa}^ is 
only exceeded by his dishonest manipulation of the material 
borrowed from the Aiuiual Register. The following descrip- 
tion is thoroughly typical of Rumsa3''s style at its best, and 
Gf)rdon uses it as his own: 

RaniK(ti/'s Jlldori/ uf tlie Mrvulntion in Soiiili 

Carolina, II, I23-m. Gordo,,, IV, l.JS-m. 

In tills crisis of danger to the liberties of Here let me introduce an account of the 

America the ladies of Soutli Carolina con- manner in wliich most of the whig ladies 

ducted themselves with more than Spartan conducted themselves while they remained 

magnanimity. They gloried in the appel- in Charleston. They Showed an amazing 

lation of rebel ladies. * * * in the fortitude and the strongest attachment to 

height of the British conquests, when pov- the cause of their country, and gloried in 

erty and ruin .seemed the unavoidable por- the appellation of rebel ladies. * * * in 

tion of every adherent to the independence the height of the British conquests, when 

of America, the ladies in general discovered poverty and ruin seemed the unavoidable 

more firmness than the men. Many of portion of every adherent to the independ- 

them, like guardian angels, preserved their ence of America, they discovered more 

husbands from falling in the hour of temp- firmness than the men. Many of them, like 

fcition, when interest and convenience had guardian angels, preserved their hu.sbands 

almost gotten the better of honor and from falling in the hour of ti'niptation, 

patriotism. when interest and convenience had almost 

' gotten the better of honor and patriotism. 

Examples similar to this might Ix' iiuiltiplied indefinitely. 
Even where a compiler with oidy an average amount of 
industr}' would abridge or condense, material is copied ver- 
batim. In view of the courtesy by which Ramsaj^'s manu- 
script was placed at his disposal, thi>i theft on Gordon's part 



382 AMERICAK HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 

becomes all the more inexcusal)le' The pursuit by the Ameri- 
cans of Colonel Ferguson is one of the most characteristic 
descriptions in Ramsay. As it reappears in (xordon, it is 
given here in parallel version. 

Ramsay, II, 181-182. Gurdon, III, J,63. 
Each man set out with his blanliet, knap- Eacli man .set out with his blanket, knap- 
sack, and gun in quest of Col. Ferguson, sack, and gun in quest of major Ferguson, 
in the .same manner he was used to pursue in the same manner he was used to pursue 
the wild beasts of the forest. At night the the wild beasts of the forest. At night the 
earth afforded them a bed and the Heavens earth afforded them a bed and the heavens 
a covering; the running stream quenched a covering; the running stream quenched 
their thirst, while a few cattle driven in their thir.st, while a few cattle driven in 
their rear, together with the supplies ac- their rear, together with the supplies ac- 
quired by their guns, secured them i)rovi- quired by their guns, .secured them j>rovi- 
sion. sion. 

What, then, remains of the two thousand pages in four vol- 
umes of Gordon's History of the American Revolution? Of 
the first part of the first volume, Letters I and II, he may be 
the author, or at least the compiler. The style is certainly 
stiff and clum.sy enough to be the author's own. But as for 
the remainder of the work, especially from Letter IX, Vol- 
ume I, it is conspicuously lacking in that essential unity of 
thought and st^de which should pervade a geiniine piece of 
historical writing.^ In its place we have a sorry patchwork 
in which selections or adaptations from Burke and Ramsay 
are raggedl}^ joined to material of quite another kind. Mani- 
festly we can not cut out the portions copied from other 
writers and in this way make sure that the remainder is gen- 
uine. The persistent plagiarism of which he has been guilty 
vitiates his entire work. There is inevitably a taint of dis- 
honesty about the whole. 

1 After this study ^vas completed the attention of the writer was called by Profe.ssor 
Bourne, of Yale, to a citation in Allibone's Dictionary of Authors (art. Gordon) which indi- 
cates that Gordon's indebtedness to the Annual Register was early discovered. Allibone 
quotes from a work which he calls Supp. Vol. Diet. Hist., 1812, the sentence "The best 
part of it occurs where he made most use of Dodsley's Annual Register." In response to 
request for a verification of this quotation Mr. Bourne .suggests that it was taken from 
Chalmer's Biog. Diet. (art. Gordon), where the same citaticjn is given and credited to the 
"Supplemental Volume to the Dictionnaire Historiquc, 1812, which consists chiefly of 
American lives probably contributed by an American." This Dictionnaire Historique 
was the Nouveau Dictionnaire Historique, par L. M. Chandon et Delaudinc Lyon, 1804, 
new ed., Paris, 1810-1812, under the title Diet. Universel, hist. crit. et bibliog., 20 vols. 
From this source this statement of Gordon's obligations to the Annual Register has been 
taken up in several of the biographical dictionaries, but so far as I know has never been 
verified, nor at present can its author be identified. It is, however, the only direct asser- 
tion I have ever found indicating anything like an appreciation of Gordon's plagiarism 



GOKDOJSf's IIISTOUV OK AMERICAN KKVOLU'rioN, 383 

II. 

'i'hr. quostion iu)\v n;itui:illy iU'iscs, Was (xordoii u conscioiis 
l)lao-ijiri,st in our iiicaniiio- of the tcriii, or was it the fault of 
tlie time in which he lived? The (|uestion can of course never 
he satisfactorily answ(>red, ])ut there is some evidence upon it 
worth consideration. First, as to contemporary opinion 
regarding- Oordon's character, purposes, and writings. 

The historian seems not to have made a very favorable 
impression upon those who knew him in America. John 
Adams wrote of him in 1775, "I fear his indiscreet prate will 
do harm in this city. lie is an eternal talker and somewhat 
vain, and not accurate nor judicious."^ Hamilton in 177!> 
referred to him contemptuously as ''the old Jesuit.'"' 

Belknap, writino' to Hazard from Boston in 178!»with refer- 
ence to Gordon's history, says: 

I l)elievt) it will be no easy matter for (i. to tind any peraons of eharaeter 
and coiisequenee who will stand forth as hin vouchers. He was not much 
l)eloved nor regarded while he was liere, and the stories he has told of one 
and another in his book have helped to sink him in the general estimation, 
though now and then I find some who are rather inclined to speak favor- 
alily of him.'' 

James Sullivan speaks of him in much the same fashion, 
and refers also to the low esteem in whic-h he was held in 
Massachusetts. He adds: 

In every part of his history there is a very remarkal)lewant of truth and 
integrity, but the arrows of his envy and Malevolence are so blunted by 
the indiscretion of his attacks and the want of decency in his manner that 
tlicy do no injury. 

In Ills estimation (iordoii is a '" mercenary scrih])ler who 
makes hooks with no other object than to gain a fewpenct'."' 
This charge of being intluenced l)y mercenary motives is one 
that appears again and again. It never can l>e substantiated, 
but the evidence is very damaging. The letters of John 
Adams'^ and Jetl'erson''' both show traces of it, even before the 
edition a{)i)ear(Hi. In 1818 flohn Adams writes: 

It is with grief that 1 record a fact which I ought to record relative to 
<i(jrdon's history. His object was profit. He was told that his book 

1 Life and Works of John Adams. Bcston, 1850, II, 42:M24. 

2 Hamilton's Works. LndjifL' cd., VII, 57G. 
■iBelkniii) Puikts. Part H, liU. 

••Amory, Life of Jiuncs Sulliviiii. Hdstoii, ls.V.), Vol. I, iW. Ni>to. 

Works. IX, 550. 

ojefXer.son's Works. Wiisliiiiginii, l.soo, II, 107. 



384 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 

would not sell if printed according to lii» manuscript. It was accordingly 
thrown into a new form of letters between a gentleman in England and 
one in America. He was told, besides, that the style was so bold that it 
would damn the work, and that many other things were so favorable to 
America and others so disgraceful to Britons that neither would be borne. 
Accordingly the style and spirit was altered and accommodated more to 
the British taste and feelings. In this labor of love he had the assistance 
of some of the dissenting clergymen, and among them I can name the Drs. 
Towers, father and son.^ Had the original manuscript been printed the 
work would have appeared very differently.'' 

Thus stated by a contemporai\v is the whole charge against 
Gordoirs reputation as a man and a historian. Another con- 
temporary of Gordon goes still further and insists that he 
saw the original manuscript before the author went to Eng- 
land, and that it was changed in one instance of which he was 
aware. ^ Dr. Luther M. Harris, one of Gordon's friends, 
claimed that more than 100 pages were struck out of the 
original manuscript, while others confirm this evidence and 
add that the author was paid for the alteration.* The case 
against Gordon, as stated l\v his contemporaries, is certainly 
strong enough to justify further examination. 

Secondly, we may consider the internal evidence of Gor- 
don's history. If the author was paid for changing his mami- 
script to conform it to the English feeling, the plagiarism 
from the pages of the Annual Register was conscious and 
deliberate. For purposes of concealment, transposition of 
material was resorted to very frequently, as where a three- 
page description was ])uilt up out of eleven fragments taken 
from material filling fifteen pages of the Annual Register, and 
rearranged in such an order as to be almost unrecognizable." 

The proof of direct change of form in manuscript itself in 
favor of the English view is not now possible, for Gordon's 
original manuscript has in all probalnlity perished. But 
fortunately there is in existence a letter written by him on 

1 Dictionary of National Biography, LVIII, 91. Jo.seph Towers. 1737-1799. Editor of 
"British Biography;" chief work, Memoirs of Frederick III of Prussia. Joseph L. 
Towers. 1767-1831. Unitarian preacher, writer, and book collector. 

2 Austin, Life of Elbridge Gerry, Boston, 1828. .\ppendi.\, p. 530. Winsor's account of 
Gordon, Nar. and Crit. History, VIII, 470-471, has been the chief means used in tracing 
the contemporary opinion of Gordon. 

3 Recollections of a Bostonian: Niles, Principles and Acts of the Revolution. Balti- 
more, 1822, pp. 482, 483. 

^Loringin Historical Magazine, VI, 78-82. 

5 Gordon, III, 302-304. Annual Register, 1780, pp. 21-30. Here Gordon's eleven consecu- 
tive fragments are to be found in the Annual Register in the order 2,8,4,1,5,6,7,10,9, 
8, 11. 



Gordon's histoky ok amekican ukvolution. 385 

May 17, 1775, dcsc-rihino- the battles of Loxino'toii and Con- 
cord/ In comparing' this early account with that appearing 
in his later work due allowance must ])e made for the inter- 
vening years and the consequent cooling of the passions of 
the moment. We should hardly expect, for instance, to find 
in sober history such a sentence as this: "Eight hundred of 
the best British Troops in America having thus nol)ly van- 
quished a company of nonresisting Yankees while dispersing, 
and slaughtering a few of them by way of experiment, 
marched forward in the greatness of their might to Con- 
cord." And while we may bo able to understand why he 
omitted in his later account the phrase "inimical torified 
natives," yet he should have mentioned that they were pres- 
ent in the Lexington-Concord expedition. One of the most 
curious alterations occurs in connection with the Lexington 
skirmish. In the first account it is related that as the officers 
of the regiment rode up toward the Americans one of them 
shouted, "You damned rebels, lay down your arms;" another, 
"Stop, you rebels;" and a third, "Disperse, j^ou rebels." 
But in his history ^ the version of the affair is taken from the 
Annual Register, as follows: "An officer in the van called out, 
^Disperse, you reheU; tliToui dmnn your arm-9 and disperse.'' ''^ ^ 
In his treatment of Major Pitcairn, Gordon shows his change 
clearly enough. In the letter of 1775 he says: "Major Pit- 
cairn, I suppose, thinking himself justified by Parliamentary 
authority to consider them as rebels, perceiving that they did 
not actually lay down their arms, observing that the generality 
were getting off, while a few continued in their military posi- 
tion, and apprehending there could be no great hurt in kill- 
ing a few such Yankees, which might probably, according to 
the notions that had been instilled into him by the tory party, 
of the Americans being poltroons, end all the contest, gave 
the command to fire, then fired his own pistol, and so set the 
whole affair agoing. " This hardly reads like the later version: 
"An instant compliance not taking place, which he might 
construe into contempt, he rode a little farther, fired his pis- 
tol, flourished his sword, and ordered the soldiers to fire;" 

1 An Account of Uie Commencement of Hostilities between Great Britain and America 
in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Force, American Archives, fourth scries, II, 
625-631. 

•-Gordon, 1, 478. 

s Annual Register, 1775, p. 12G, c. 2. 

HIST 99, VOL I 25 



386 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 

• 

"undoubtedl3',"hesa3's, furtheron, " from the mistaken appre- 
hension he had entertained of American resolution, for he has 
the character of a good-tempered officer."" This last sounds 
somewhat different from his denunciation of the same officer 
in 1775, which he concludes by saying, "1 have no such great 
opinion of the Major\s character." 

With all its mutilation, however, we ma}" be sure that this 
letter of 1775 was the basis for his later account of the first 
bloodshed of the Revolution. There are so man}' agreements 
of detail, wording, and spirit which no revision could quite 
destroy. The expedition of 1,100 men, for instance, to 
Jamaica Plains and Dorchester, resulting in a great destruc- 
tion to the stone fences; the influence of the Tories in causing 
Gage to send out the famous expedition; the presence of 
British officers on the road out of Boston the night before the 
battle of Lexington; the taking of the grenadiers and light 
infantr}' off duty under pretense of learning a new exercise, 
which made the "Bostonians jealous;" the incident connected 
with the Lexington meetinghouse, or "meeting "as he calls it, 
which he proves did not shelter armed Americans; the brain- 
ing of a wounded British soldier by a young farmer armed 
with an ax, and his denial of the report the British soldiers 
were scalped — these details with their exact phraseology reap- 
pear as evidence of the essential unity of the two accounts. 
The most curious feature of the later account occurs in the 
description of Lord Percj^'s march to aid the flying British, 
where Gordon pauses midwa}' to explain at length the origin 
of the terrjj "Yankee." Stranger still is the alteration of his 
original story of Lord Percy's playing Yankee Doodle as he 
marched out of Boston, and being reminded later how he had 
been made to dance to that tune. This at least has local color; 
but in his history Gordon tells us that a mocking youth calls out 
to Lord Perc}' that he is soon to dance to the tune of Chevy 
Chase. Now, though we are aware of the uncommon precoc- 
ity of the Boston boys of 1775, j^et it is hard to believe that 
one of them could so cleverly connect Lord Percy with the 
hero of Chevy Chase. This smacks decidedly of the atmos- 
phere of some quiet English study, but is out of harmony 
with everything in Boston at this period of her history. 

The net result of the alterations, then, of this original letter 
of 1775 is to give a view decidedly more favorable to the 



GOKUUN's history ok AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 887 

British. The im-idont of the braining of a wounded soldier 
is retained, while he omits to mention Pitcairn's insolence 
and ))rutality, the presence of Tories in the detachment of 
soldiers sent to Lexington, and the detail of atrocities com- 
mitted by the British soldiers. Most curious of all is the 
addition (in parenthesis, to be sure) of the statement that at 
the l)attle of Concord Lieutenant Gould would have been 
killed but for the intervention of a clergyman. Yet in his 
deposition soon after the battle, Gould gives every important 
detail of his experience except this one.' In his use of Ram- 
say, also, Gordon shows the same partiality for the British 
side by attempting to palliate the injustice and cruelty of 
their soldiers in Charleston by citing cases somewhat similar 
on the part of the Americans elsewhere," oven making use of 
Washington's losses by dishonest debtors to show how cor- 
rupt they had become.^ 

To sum up our conclusions thus far, we may say that Gor- 
don was neither a man of unimpeachable veracity nor a great 
historian, and that his history mvist be rejected Avholly as a 
source for the American Revolution. And it is meant to include 
in this statement not only the three-fourths taken largely from 
other histories, but also the remaining portion, chiefly con- 
tained in the first eight letters of Volimie I. We may con- 
clude further that Gordon's letter of 1775 (Anierican Archives), 
d(>scribing the battles of Lexington and Concord, is a fair 
type of his original history, as he took it to England for pub- 
lication, and that his later accoimt of these battles shows how 
the history sufi'ered in contents and spirit by the revision to 
which it was subjected. 

It must be admitted, on the other hand, that while there are 
abundant evidences of the presence of the original manu- 
script in Gordon's history, it is by no means easy to verify 
the hypothesis of his compilation of the work hy the aid of 
friends in England. How many portions of his published 
history resemble the description of the battles of Lexington 
and Concord it is impossible to say, and in the absence of 
similar material for comparison we have little means of Ivnow- 
ing. Internal evidence alone can hardly reveal whether it was 

1 Hubley, History of the American Revolution. Northumberland, Penn., 1805. I, 242-243. 
2 Gordon, III, 4.>1. Ramsay, II, 169-170. 
81b. 111,260. 



388 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 

• 
Cxordonor his clerical friends who mangled this original manu- 
script and transcribed portions of the Annual Register in the 
production of the published work. We ma}" be quite sure, 
however, that Gordon passed judgment upon the whole pro 
duction and gave to certain portions of • it a characteristic 
animus which is easily recognizable. A good example of 
this is his treatment of Gates, which betrays his partisanship 
for this ignoble rival of Washington. This could hardly be 
the result of a fortuitous selection from Gordon's entire 
manuscript by an ordinary compiler. The work must have 
been done under his constant supervision, and nowhere, unless 
it be in the foreign letters, do we fail to find traces of its 
presence. 

There remains, consequently, the difficult task of disen- 
tangling the composite of original and borrowed material 
and the assignment of each fragment to its proper source. 
This is by no means the simple problem it at first appears, for 
after the material of the original has been separated from that 
of the Annual Register and of Ramsay, we are confronted 
with the difficulty of distinguishing the particular compiler 
who copied or abridged the various portions of the plagiarized 
material. That there were several compilers at work upon 
the histor}^ seems quite apparent; what each . contributed to 
the composite result is exceedingly difficult to determine. 
These and other similar questions must await a more detailed 
and careful stud}^ of the whole subject at some future time, 
but even though new evidence may modify, as to minor details, 
the conclusions so far reached, the main contention is beyond 
cavil that no part of Gordon's history can an}" longer be taken 
as authority on the American Revolution. 



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